On the eve of the 54th  Wedding Anniversary  of  the eldest sibling  in our clan ,  with the deadly virus prompted shut down in multiple  cities from Delhi through to Gurgaon , Kolkata London and Bangalore , one can at best reminisce fondly about the Golden anniversary celebrated in Goa  seemingly only  some time back.

A couple of days at a Retreat in Goa for a family reunion to celebrate the Golden Wedding Anniversary of the eldest sibling : one would normally feel elated with a rainbow wrapped around one’s drooping shoulders . Any outcome other than this woukd go against the grain of conventional wisdom.

The august gathering stretching across three generations , in a four score age range , had virtually taken over the Retreat . England , Abu-Dhabi , Kolkata , Bangalore , & the National Capital Region were all represented , with barely a few absentees , some notable & some not so . Booze was consumed in multiple liters , notwithstanding the teetotaler predominance . Night Caps carried on until the wee hours , notwithstanding ubiquity of early-to-bed syndrome . Absolutely delightful inanities occupied center-stage of the poetic “chatter & bawl” notwithstanding “serious-intelligent-higher-plane” pleas by a few . What then could have triggered the feeling of emptiness & an inexplicable low after two nights & three days of a delightful celebration and reunion .

Arrangements were impeccably planned & executed by a team of two wondrrful persons who ensured reception & hospitality of the highest order . Activities were planned with Military Precision & no one was allowed to be at a loose end. Emotional warmth , glee , & boisterous bonding was in the air throughout , with nary a dull moment . Gastronomy was in an orbit not easily reachable , with catering teams specially flown in from Delhi & Pune to serve menus carefully crafted for a highly diverse spectrum of food fads , by the team of two . Stationary , Gift boxes , Reception notes & hampers were neatly crafted & perfectly aligned in their White & Gold livery . Anniversary Dinner was thematically executed with a White & Gold dress code . Chinese lanterns soared to unimagined heights . All-in-all , a high budget & high energy event , remarkably devoid of any ostentation . With nothing amiss , how , oh how , could the rainbow elude my drooping shoulders !!

The Golden Wedding couple were , as they always are , cynosures of all eyes in their matching outfits for each of the carefully thought out events & charmingly warm to old & young alike . A lovingly assembled collage of vintage photos ran on a loop at the entrance lobby to take us all on a delightful trip down memory lane. A brief invocation of Divine blessings in a well executed Havan with chants & devotional singing was unique , quaint , & a welcome addition to the event-packed agenda. Elevation of thoughts should be the rightful outcome. And yet , why would my mind feel well short of such elevation.

There were some hilarious moments , & some moments of quiet dignity , but not one moment of awkward isolation/solitude for any of the attendees. Those in attendance were warmly thanked . Some absentees were notably acknowledged & some not so.

With a professional photographer in attendance , the event was well recorded for multiple family albums , supplementing the barrage of photos & videos already posted on WhatsApp by a trigger happy sibling.

Some of us reminisced of another Golden Wedding anniversary in the family , when the Sun & the Moon rose & set in exactly the same orientation , in Delhi , as they did now in Goa. There was a similar feeling of “low” that one had felt then , some three decades ago , as one felt now . Then , as now , one was flabbergasted at the inexplicable dichotomy of emotional outcomes . Why , oh why would one feel low following an event ever so well orchestrated , with such high dosage of free flowing love , care & undiluted happiness .

I would never be able to figure out this phenomenon I had thought at that time  . Perhaps the answer was somewhere  deep within : at depths not easily reachable on a transactional plane : one would need to get transcendental to understand the phenomenon : & I felt well short of such heights !!

The breaking news announcements on TV earlier this evening , near the end of a day long nation-wide curfew as a prequel to what will probably be a long battle globally against an unfamiliar  enemy  , leads one to believe that Love and Bonds shall eventually prevail, and Deo Volente , we shall have a 55th anniversary bash at some exotic location. Cheers and a Happy Anniversary.